Car roof



Patented July 29, i924.

sin@

CHARLES DAVID BONSALL, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TOy P. I-I. IVI'URPHY COMPANY, OF NEW KENSINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR ROOF.

Application filed November l, 1922.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be i't known that I, CHARLES DAVID BON- sALL, a citizen of the United States7 and a resident of the city of Pittsburgh, county of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful lmprovement in Car Roofs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to car roofs of the all-steel riveted-up type wherein self supporting roof sheets extend from side plate to side plate and are riveted thereto and to each other to form a rigid load sustaining structure.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to increase the strength and rigidity of the roof by improving the sectional shape of the lapped portions of the sheets. Another object is to produce a durable and light weight roof of simple construction which vcan be easily assembled and cheaply manufactured. rl`he invention consists principally in the improved seam construction hereinafter shown and described;

Aand it also consists in the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur.

Fig. l is a plan view of a portion of a car roof embodying my invention;

i Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section through one-half of the car roof on the line 2 2 in Fig. l. y;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section through `one of the seams on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2;

F ig. 4t is a cross section through the eaves portion of the roof, the section being taken through one of the seams on the line l-a in Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a cross section through the eaves portion of a seam on the line 5 5 in Fig. a.

The present roof comprises transversely arranged load sustaining roof sheets vG, 'which extend from eaves to eaves of the car. The roof sheets are supported at their eaves ends onmetal side plates 7 and are rigidly secured thereto by rivets 8; and the eaves ends of the roof sheets are provided with depending drip flanges 9 which overhang the outer edges of the side plates.

The roof sheets slope upwardly from the Serial No. 538,325.

eaves towards the ridge; and the side marginal portions of each roof sheet arepressed up in the form of stiffening ribs or seam flanges l0 and ll of substantially inverted L-shape section; that is, each marginal portion has a substantially vertical web portion at the top of which is a laterally projecting flange portion; and the seam flange l0 of each sheet is provided at its outer margin with a shallow down-turned flange portion 10a. 1

The top flanges of the two inverted L cent sheet with the web portions of the co-V operating ribs or seam flanges in Contact; and said lapped seam flanges are rigidly secured together by a row of rivets l2 that extend through the top flanges thereof. lVhen thus assembled, the depending free marginal portion lOfL of the upper seam flange 10 of each seam overhangs the free edge of the lowerI seam flange ll of the seam and serves to `waterproof the same. As shown in the. drawing, the seam flanges l0 and ll are of substantial uniform width and Adepth from ridge to points adjacent to the eaves where they are curved downwardly and merge into the plane of the body of the sheets at points where the ends of the sheets are turned down to form the drip flanges 9; but, if desired, said seam flanges may be of varying width and depth from ridge to eaves. A

At the eaves, the laterally projecting top llangcportion of the underlying seam flange of each seam is removed for a dist-ance corresponding to the length of the downwardly curved eaves end portions thereof; thus leaving an 11p-standing flange at the eaves ends of said underlying seam flange whose upper edge is curved to correspond to the downwardly curved eaves end portions of the overlapping seam flange l0. The surplus of metal resulting from the down-turned eaves los end portions of the overlapping seam flange l0 is utilized to increase the depth of the depending free marginal portions 10a thereof, whereby said seam flange 10 has eaves end portions of inverted channel-shaped section; and at points adjacent to the eaves, where said marginal portion reaches the plane of the body of the sheets, it is turned outwardly to form lateral base flanges lOb which overlap the body portion of the adjacent she-et and are rigidly secured to the side plates by means of the rivets 8 that secure the eaves ends of the sheets thereto.

The seams or joints produced by the cooperating seam flanges or ribs l0 and ll accomplish the various functions of carlines. The cross-sectional shape of the seams at the ridge serves to increase the load carrying capacity of the roof, and the cross-sectional shape of the seams at the eaves serves to take care of the stresses that tend to rack and twist the car body and distort it endwise. This increased strength in the seam enables a roof to be produced that will be stiffer and stronger than previous roofs of the same weight of metal.

Running boards 13 are arranged lengthwise of the roof at the ridge, and are bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the lateral flanges of ruiming board saddles lll. rlhe ruiming board saddles rest on and are rigidly secured to the. tops of the seam by means of the rivets 'l2 that secure the lapped seam flanges together.

The top of the downwardly curved inverted channel-shaped eaves end portion of each seam flange l0 is provided with an opening l5. rlhese openings permit the escape of water or cinders that may accumulate in the inverted channel-shaped eaves ends of the seams.

The invention is not restricted to the precise form and arrangements shown in the accompanying drawing. f

lfvlhat l claim is:

1. A car roof comprising a plurality of rigid load-sustaining roof sheets extending from eaves to eaves and having their adjacent side marginal portions formed into upstanding seam flanges, each of said seam flanges comprising a substantially vertical web portion at the top of which is a laterally projecting flat flange portion, the seam flanges of adjacent sheets being' disposed web to web with their laterally projecting fiat flange portions lapped and rigidly secured together to form waterproofing seams that constitute stiftening members for the car, the overlapping flat flange portion of' one seam flange of a seam being turned down over the free edge of the underlying portion of the other seam flange of said seam, the downturned portion of the over- Y lapping seam flange of each sheet being of increased depth adjacent to the eaves where it is turned outwardly in the plane of the body of the next adjacent sheet and rigidly secured thereto.

2. A car roof comprising a plurality of roof sheets extending from eaves to eaves and having their adjacent side marginal portions formed into upstanding seam flanges whose eaves end portions are curved downwardly and merge into the sheets at the eaves ends thereof', each of said seam flanges comprising a substantially vertical web portion having at the top thereof a laterally projecting flange portion, the seam flanges of adjacent sheets being disposed web to web with their lateral flange portions lapped and rigidly secured together, the overlapping lateral flange portion of a seam being provided adjacent to the downwardly curved eaves endl portions thereof witn an opening and the underlying lateral flange of said seam terminating short of said opening to permit the escape of cinders and water therethrough.

3. A single-course car roof comprising a plurality of self-sustaining roof sheets eX- tending from eaves to eaves and having their adjacent side marginal portions formed into upstanding seam flanges whose eaves end portions are curved downwardly and merge into the sheets at the e-aves ends thereof, each of said seam flanges comprising a substantially vert-ical web portion having at the top thereof a laterally projecting flange portion, the seam flanges of adj acentsheets being disposed web to web with their lateral flange portions lapped and rigidly secured together, the overlapping lateral flange portion of a seam being turned down over the free edge of the underlying lateral flange thereof, the said down-turned portion being turned outwardly adjacent to the downwardly curved eaves ends of said vsea-m and riveted to the underlying body portion of the sheet adjacent thereto.

Al. A. car roof sheet having its side marginal portions formed into hollow ribs having dow'wardly curved eaves end portions, a portion of the top of each of said ribs being removed adjacent to its downwardly curved eaves end portions to form openings therein.

5. L car roof sheet having its side marginal portions formed into upstanding seam flanges whose eaves end portions are curved downwardly and project on the plane of the body of' the sheet adjacent t0 the eaves ends thereof, each of said seam flanges comprising a substantially vertical web portion having a lateral top flange, the lateral top flange of one sea-m flange extending outwardly beyond the body of the sheet and the lateral top flange of the other seam flange extending inwardly and overhanging the body portion of' said sheet, the lateral top flange of one seam flange being provided along its free marginal edge with a depending lange whose depth is increased adjacent to the eaves where it terminates in the form of a lateral base flange, the lateral top lange of said last mentioned seam flange having an opening therein adjacent to its downwardly curved eaves end portions, and the other seam iange having a portion of its lateral top flange removed adjacent to its downwardly curved eaves end portions.

6. A car root' comprising a plurality of roof sheets whose side marginal portions are connected by sea-ms of substantially L- shaped section at the ridge and of substantially channel-shaped section adjacent to the caves.

7. A car roof comprising a plurality of roof sheets whose side marginal portions are positively connected by rigid upstanding seams of substantially inverted L- shaped section at the ridge and of substantially inverted channel-shapedV section at the eaves.

8. A single-course car roof comprising a plurality of self-sustaining roosheets Whose side marginal portions are positively connected by rigid seams that function as carlines, said seams being of substantially L- shaped section at the ridge and of substantially channel-shaped section adjacent to the eaves.

Signed at N ew Kensington, Pennsylvania, this 26th day of October, 1922. Y

CHARLES DAVID BONSALL. 

